


invisible string

by capthamm



Series: captain swan's folklore [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, finding soulmate, fluff soulmates, seriously folklore is a cs au I don't make the rules, taylor swift did this im not sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:12:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25485238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/capthamm/pseuds/capthamm
Summary: Emma had heard stories of the pull you feel when your “soulmate” is near. To her it always sounded more awful than romantic– one day you’re walking down the street and you’re literally tugged in their direction.She doesn’t like the idea of fate, but she definitely doesn’t like the fact that someday– with her luck– it may actually pull her off her feet.
Relationships: Captain Hook | Killian Jones/Emma Swan
Series: captain swan's folklore [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1879231
Comments: 12
Kudos: 131





	invisible string

**Author's Note:**

> stream folklore by taylor swift <3

Emma had heard stories of the pull you feel when your “soulmate” is near. To her it always sounded more awful than romantic– one day you’re walking down the street and you’re literally  _ tugged _ in their direction. 

She doesn’t like the idea of fate, but she definitely doesn’t like the fact that someday– with her luck– it may actually pull her off her feet. 

Taking solace in the fact that some people never feel the mystical pull, Emma has moved on with her life. Luckily, she’s only reminded of its potential when she’s around Mary Margaret– if anyone was going to feel the tug it was going to be Mary Margaret.

Emma tells herself she doesn’t care when Ruby and Ariel feel it within a week of each other. 

She’s  _ fine _ being on her own.

If she falls in love she wants it to be because they  _ want _ her, not because they’re told they’re supposed to. Her entire life she was dropped into people’s lives who were expected to care for her. It didn’t take long for her to learn that some people would and some wouldn’t. 

Who’s to say her soulmate wouldn’t be the same?

Disappointed is something she’s sick of being. 

Which is why when late one night walking home from work she feels a yank in her gut, she walks the other way. Emma refuses to get her hopes up, refuses to get hurt. 

Turns out fate’s a bitch. 

Everyone she’s ever known has practically sprinted towards their soulmate so she wasn’t sure what’d happen now that she ran, but she wasn’t expecting  _ this.  _

A literally constant pull in different directions that grows stronger and stronger until on night four she spends an entire hour doubled over the toilet just trying to get some relief. 

Ok, fine, she  _ gets _ it. 

Brushing her teeth and combing through her hair, Emma decides she looks “good enough” and walks out the door. As though the universe knows she’s finally giving in, her feet move on their own– quickly veering left outside her apartment door and leading her to a small hole-in-the-wall pub she’s never noticed before. It’s literally next door. 

_ Very funny _ , she rolls her eyes before walking through the door. 

The moment she sees him she knows– a feeling of comfort washing over her that feels so foreign it must be better than whatever state of static she was in before. He looks up and she can’t explain it but she knows in her bones he feels it too. 

When they’re eyes meet, the pull returns, stronger this time. She feels it immediately, walking towards him as though she’s simply a marionette in life’s weird puppet show. For the first time, Emma finds she doesn’t care, but the closer they get the stronger the pull gets and Emma can’t do this. 

She  _ can’t  _ do this. 

Ready to deal with a stomach ache for the rest of her life and probably the guilt of one 1,000 “what-ifs”, Emma turns away. Before she can move, she feels fingers wrap around her elbow.

His touch is like fire– not a torch or painful in any way, but a warm bonfire on a summer’s night.

The earth stands still when he speaks, white noise leaving the room like a vacuum, “Please just… one drink.” 

Of  _ course _ he’s British. 

Emma meets his eyes again and feels like she’s floating on the deepest lake in Minnesota. Blue everywhere. 

She hasn’t felt that feeling since before they took her from Ingrid. 

_ Home.  _

Logically, she should be terrified, but everything she’s felt for four days has defied logic so she nods and follows him to the bar. He shoots a guy at the end of the bar a look and the young man throws his hands up in defeat before leaving out the front door. 

Despite them being very much alone, Emma has never felt less alone in her life. 

Everything comes easy with Killian– their lives walking some bizarre parallel line. Dead parents, lost loves, odd jobs, everything she keeps close to her chest comes out without hesitation. As he details his life back to her, she gets the feeling this is as new to him as it is to her. 

“I didn’t believe in soulmates.” She interrupts him, the sentence spilling out before she can adjust the grammar to hide what she really means. 

He arches his eyebrow in a move that she knows is so  _ him _ despite only actually knowing him for a few hours, “Didn’t, Swan?” (She likes when he calls her that.) “That’s past tense.” 

Emma bites down on her lip. Five hours ago, Emma didn’t believe in soulmates, in the invisible string tying you to another person who is supposed to fit you like a puzzle piece. How could there be someone out there who perfectly matched all her rough edges? It seemed impossible. 

_ Seemed.  _

Then there was Killian. 

None of it makes sense. Three hours with someone and you can already see a future– a  _ real _ life. It’s against Emma’s very nature, and if it wasn’t Killian, then she’s pretty sure it still would be. He bends where she breaks, and gives where she takes. His smile gives her butterflies and his laugh is already her favorite song. 

She feels like Mary Margaret. 

_ Is that really such a bad thing?  _

These thoughts run through her mind at a million miles per hour and she realizes Killian is waiting. With a deep breath she answers, “It is.” 

There’s that smile. 

She knows he’s dangerous in every sense of the word– handsome, kind, driven, hilarious– but, despite how absolutely ridiculous it sounds, she also believes they were meant to find each other. 

They kiss softly that night, and a new comfort washes through her. She silently wonders what other moments with him will bring that feeling as she falls asleep that night. 

She gets her answer in every moment with him for the rest of her life. 

**Author's Note:**

> This poured out of me in an hour this morning while listening to folklore. I'm not sorry. 
> 
> come flail with me!!!! @capthamm on Tumblr.


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